IVYSCP - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

"Tell me," she said. "Could her body have been possessed?"

Even though Ling Qingyue knew full well it was impossible, she still wanted to hear what Pei Yin thought.

Pei Yin sighed inwardly. She had known Ling Qingyue would not be able to accept seeing Lou Wudu become what she was now.

She took something from her Qiankun Pouch and placed it in Ling Qingyue's hand.

Ling Qingyue held it up for a look. It was a gleaming golden whip.

"What's this?"

"The God-Striking Whip. It can flay a soul from its body. Go give her a thrashing and find out."

Watching her deliver this with a perfectly straight face, Ling Qingyue suddenly laughed and pressed the whip back into her hands. "I can't beat her right now anyway. How am I supposed to whip her? You go whip her."

A soft laugh escaped Pei Yin. "I might not be able to beat her right now either."

Ling Qingyue looked dazed for a moment. "Senior Sister has already become that formidable."

She answered her own question a beat later. "Right. She was always more formidable than any of us."

Pei Yin watched and reached out to stroke her head.

Ling Qingyue took a couple of breaths, then flared up again. "How could she just give Jiuge away as a tournament prize?!"

Pei Yin's expression grew thoughtful. "Perhaps… she already has someone in mind to receive it."

Ling Qingyue's brow furrowed. "What does that mean?"

Pei Yin spoke with pointed implication. "Ever since Cui Heng became her disciple, the Heavenly Ranking's top position has always been hers. If Cui Heng enters the competition this time…"

The words ignited Ling Qingyue's fury. She slammed a palm onto the table, pushed herself up, and paced back and forth, the little braid behind her swinging with every turn.

"Cui Heng? Hah! Jiuge would never acknowledge her!"

Seething, and still smarting over the way her senior sister had defended Cui Heng earlier, she ranted on.

"All that talk about how Jiuge has a spirit and she didn't want it to gather dust. It's nothing but an excuse to give Jiuge to Cui Heng!"

"How can she do this? How can she do this! Jiuge is mine. What gives her the right to hand it over to Cui Heng?!"

"I have to get Jiuge back!"

Pei Yin watched her pacing, then reached out and pulled her close. She wrapped an arm around her waist, settled her onto her lap, lifted a hand, and smoothed down the hair behind her back, her voice soft with reassurance. "All right. We'll get Jiuge back. We won't let them have it."

Ling Qingyue grew still. Her ears reddened a little. She set a hand on Pei Yin's shoulder and murmured, "Could this all be a dream? How is it that everyone has turned into someone I don't even recognize?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she saw Pei Yin lean in. A cool pair of lips pressed against hers, parted, and caught her lower lip, giving it a small bite.

It barely hurt. A ticklish sensation.

"Is this a dream?"

Ling Qingyue wrapped her arms around her, turned her head, and buried her face in the curve of Pei Yin's neck, her voice muffled. "No."

A moment later, her bewilderment surfaced again. "If it's not a dream, how did Senior Sister end up like this?"

Pei Yin's voice was gentle. "I don't know either."

"You don't know?" Ling Qingyue had assumed she might have some insight. After all, everything she knew about the Immortal Realm since her revival had come from Pei Yin.

Pei Yin held her. "I spent most of my time in secluded cultivation. Over the past hundred years, the only time I left Cangshan was for the Three Thousand Gathering at Lingxu Immortal Palace. After that, only this time."

Ling Qingyue twined a lock of her hair idly around her finger. "That diligent. No wonder your cultivation is so high now."

Pei Yin pressed her lips together and tilted her head, brushing her cheek.

The secluded cultivation had never been about training. It was because her heart demon could not be extinguished.

"There's someone who definitely knows!"

Ling Qingyue suddenly whipped her head around in excitement, meeting Pei Yin's gaze. She did not miss the fleeting, shattered look of pity that flashed through those eyes.

A moment ago… Pei Yin had looked a little sad.

"What's wrong?" Ling Qingyue chased back over their conversation. Something must have made Pei Yin sad.

Secluded cultivation…

"Why did you spend so much time in secluded cultivation?"

Pei Yin's heart lurched in alarm. She had not expected Ling Qingyue's perception to be so sharp.

Ling Qingyue was no longer afraid of her cold demeanor. She pinched Pei Yin's chin and tilted her face up, looking her in the eye.

Eyes did not lie.

"Your constant secluded cultivation. Was it because of me?"

"No."

Her eyes blinked, then shifted to the side.

So it really was because of her. She had been dead, and still Pei Yin had shut herself away for her. It must have been a problem with her cultivation.

Ling Qingyue squeezed her chin harder, until the fair, smooth skin under her fingers turned faintly red from the abuse, then spoke fiercely. "How can you still be this stubborn?"

Pei Yin, afraid she would press further, steered the conversation away. "You said there's someone who knows. Who?"

Ling Qingyue gave a soft, scornful huff. "You're so clever. You really expect me to believe you don't know who I meant? Trying to change the subject. I'm remembering this. Once I've finished questioning Sect Leader Nie, I'll come settle accounts with you."

---

Half an incense stick's time later, Nie Wenxiao arrived at the West Courtyard of the Water Cloud Dwelling.

Nie Wenxiao sighed and proactively held out her hand. "Give it to me."

She was not particularly keen on meeting that person, but she was the only one who could deliver it.

Ling Qingyue: "?"

Give her what?

Pei Yin's lips held a faint, amused smile. She said nothing.

"Give you what?" Ling Qingyue was thoroughly confused. She had not even asked yet, and Nie Wenxiao was already asking her to hand something over.

Nie Wenxiao looked equally puzzled. "The toll fee list you wanted."

What else would she be looking for her for? When they left the Yue Family guest residence, she had been trailing behind the two of them and overheard her telling the Immortal Venerable, huffing with anger, that she wanted to draw up a toll fee list for Shangtianqiong. It had nearly frightened her to death. Someone actually daring to make such outrageous demands when the sect leader had come in person, relying on nothing but the Immortal Venerable's indulgence.

And yet the list had to be delivered by her.

Ling Qingyue said, "I haven't figured out what I want yet."

The toll fees would be demanded no matter what, and she was going to demand a lot.

"I wanted to ask you about some things." Ling Qingyue got straight to the point. "Do you know why my senior… why Lou Wudu became the way she is now?"

Nie Wenxiao did not miss the way she abruptly cut herself off mid-word. She had been watching from the sidelines the whole time at the Hidden Moon Lord's earlier, and had noticed Ah Xi's unusual reaction to Lou Wudu and even to Jiuge.

She felt her earlier conjecture was growing more likely. Ah Xi really was Ling Qingyue. Given Ling Qingyue's temperament, it made perfect sense she would target Cui Heng and Shangtianqiong so relentlessly.

"She truly was not like this before." Nie Wenxiao sighed, her expression one of regret.

She had once wanted to become someone like Lou Wudu. Back then, Lou Wudu had been the undisputed number one of the younger generation, the vanguard of the righteous path, the model of the immortal sects, the standard everyone was measured against.

"I don't know what caused her disposition to change so suddenly, but the shift seems to have begun after she assumed leadership of Shangtianqiong Sect."

"At first, people said it was just a new leader making a show of force. Naturally, a sect leader needs authority and the ability to command respect, so a certain cold ruthlessness was only appropriate. And after the demons were sealed away in the Great Wilderness, every sect was busy rebuilding and recovering. She took the initiative to raise the matter of the Immortal Alliance, advocating that it remain in place to assist with matters. She proposed pooling efforts to purge the Immortal Realm of evil spirits. Though the demons were sealed, the evil spirits remained. No one objected to that. In the purge, Shangtianqiong contributed greatly. Lou Wudu's stance against evil spirits was absolute. Wherever they were found, she would never let them go."

Listening, Ling Qingyue nodded vigorously in private agreement. Yes, her senior sister detested things like that, whether demons or evil spirits. In the past, whenever she heard of such things, she would even volunteer to go purge them.

If… her senior sister found out she was now half-human, half-demon…

Right after her revival, when she had run into trouble, her subconscious instinct had been to seek out her master and senior sister, to have them help her think of a solution. Even when she discovered this body had demonic markings, her thought had been to return to Shangtianqiong to find her master and senior sister. Deep down, she had instinctively believed they would trust her, would help her no matter what.

But now, Ling Qingyue was no longer so certain. She was not sure how her present-day senior sister would treat her if she learned she was half-human, half-demon. Would Senior Sister accept her the way Pei Yin had? Or would she truly drive her into the Great Wilderness to fend for herself, just as she had done to Qiu Feng?

"As both Shangtianqiong's sect leader and the Immortal Alliance leader, her attitude and methods toward demons and evil spirits were clear for all to see. No one objected. Yet gradually, the affairs the Immortal Alliance oversaw grew more and more numerous, until it even began interfering in the internal matters of other sects. The disciples the various sects sent to the Immortal Alliance, too, began drifting from their home sects and gravitating toward Shangtianqiong. The first signs of trouble were noticed when Wushi Sect and Lingxu Immortal Palace proposed dissolving the Immortal Alliance. At the time, the hundred immortal sects were evenly split between support and opposition. As the debate wore on with no resolution, Lou Wudu proposed reelecting the Immortal Alliance leader. The strongest would hold the position."

And the current Immortal Alliance leader was still Lou Wudu. That meant she had won. She had defeated the leaders of Wushi Sect and Lingxu Immortal Palace.

Ling Qingyue's face registered shock.

Her senior sister's cultivation truly was at the pinnacle of their generation, but those two were seniors of the same generation as her master. How could Senior Sister possibly have defeated them?

Nie Wenxiao met her gaze and nodded. "That's right. She won. At the time… Ling Qingyue had just fallen, and Senior Wang Changming was injured and in secluded cultivation. Shangtianqiong had only her left. Those two seniors were, after all, the friends of her former master, so they both held back. Who would have guessed that Lou Wudu had concealed her true cultivation? She gravely wounded both seniors and seized the position of Alliance leader in one stroke."

"Not long after, Lou Wudu took Cui Heng as her disciple and appointed her as Shangtianqiong's Immortal Envoy. Cui Heng's conduct is arrogant and domineering. She frequently bullies and oppresses others. Every time Lou Wudu learned of it, she would mete out some punishment, but Cui Heng continued exactly as she pleased. Whenever a secret realm opened, eight or nine times out of ten, it would be Cui Heng who led Shangtianqiong's team inside." At this, Nie Wenxiao's expression darkened. "Peril and misfortune in secret realms are common occurrences. But when Cui Heng is present, every other sect must maintain a few extra layers of vigilance. In time, after it happened often enough, most disciples from the immortal sects would simply avoid Shangtianqiong's people."

Nie Wenxiao had put it tactfully, but Ling Qingyue understood perfectly. What she meant was that Cui Heng's actions had Lou Wudu's tacit approval behind the scenes. She was using Cui Heng to point a finger at Lou Wudu's conduct.

A deep, troubled confusion gathered in Ling Qingyue's eyes, along with disappointment. She looked at Pei Yin, her lips trembling. "Why… would she do this?"

Pei Yin could not bring herself to say that perhaps Lou Wudu had her reasons. She was not familiar with the woman, and besides, no amount of justification excused abusing power for personal ends and indulging one's disciples.

"There's a rumor," Nie Wenxiao said, pausing. When the two of them looked at her, she continued in a low voice, "that Lou Wudu keeps sending Cui Heng into secret realms to search for divine treasures on behalf of Shangtianqiong's former sect leader. Senior Wang Changming has been in secluded cultivation until now without any word, presumably because her severe injuries have yet to heal."

Ling Qingyue could not sit still any longer. She shot to her feet.

Pei Yin had told her about this before, but she had never imagined her senior sister would go to such extremes to hunt for heavenly treasures and divine materials. Just how grave was her master's injury?

She had to go. She had to ask…

That was Ling Qingyue's only thought.

Pei Yin rose and seized her by the hand. Ling Qingyue struggled hard but could not break free. Her eyes rimmed with red, she looked at her. "Pei Yin, let me go. I have to go."

Out of the corner of her eye, Pei Yin saw her wrist turning red, so she stepped forward and wrapped her in an embrace, trapping her with her body. "Rumors are not necessarily true. Don't let your heart fall into disarray. Calm down."

Ling Qingyue breathed deeply, already building justifications for her senior sister in her mind. Senior Sister must have become like this for their master's sake.

It was as if two tiny figures were warring before her eyes: one condemning her senior sister for things she should not have done, the other defending her.

By this point, Nie Wenxiao had her answer. The Ah Xi before her was the Ling Qingyue of the past.

Pei Yin shot Nie Wenxiao a glance. Every word she had spoken had been layered with probing intent.

"Sect Leader Nie." Pei Yin's voice was low and cold, laced with warning.

Nie Wenxiao had no trouble recognizing the tone. She rose and gave a slight nod. "Rest assured, Immortal Venerable. I know what should and should not be said."

"Words alone are no guarantee. I want you to swear an oath upon your soul."

Ling Qingyue lifted her head from Pei Yin's arms just in time to see Nie Wenxiao perform a soul oath before her.

"Heavenly Dao above, if I, Nie Wenxiao, reveal Ling Qingyue's identity to another, may my soul be utterly extinguished."

As her words fell, the soul oath's seal imprinted itself upon Nie Wenxiao's brow. She looked at Pei Yin. "Is this acceptable, Immortal Venerable?"

Pei Yin gave a cool nod.

Ling Qingyue's gaze moved back and forth between the two of them. She heard Pei Yin say to her, "She was testing you just now."

Ling Qingyue's eyes sharpened, but remembering that Nie Wenxiao had just sworn an oath upon her soul, the displeasure and wariness in them eased somewhat.

Nie Wenxiao had probed her before, though she had never admitted to it. But as a sect leader, Nie Wenxiao was bound to be keen-minded. She had long harbored suspicions. Now that everything was laid bare, it might not be a bad thing.

Nie Wenxiao sighed. "They were aimed at testing you, but everything I said was true."

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